While we are away hanging out with our Hallmark peeps, allow me to kick off your week by introducing you to Kerry & Andrew! They are one of our super cute July couples, and we recently got together with them to do a quick engagement shoot around a New Haven institution: Pepe's Pizza. No I'm serious, institution might be putting it lightly. Around these parts we take our pizza very seriously. Much like a Mac or a PC, you're either a Pepe's or a Sally's and once you decide you don't ever go back! :) Well Kerry & Andrew (much like Justin & myself) are clearly Pepe's people. In fact, they had their very first date sitting right there in one of the old school booths, eating clam pizza (yes I'm serious...and it's AMAZING!) and drinking Foxon Park White Birch Beer. And with a first date like that, it's no wonder they're getting married!!
Kerry & Andrew, we had the BEST time hanging out, eating clam pizza and dreaming bigger dreams with you. We can't WAIT for July to get here!
So much love,
J&M
I love this set just a little too much. HUGE thanks to the ever fabulous Miss Jennie Fresa for doing Kerry's makeup and making her look extra beautiful!
That's Frank Pepe himself watching over K&A.
Now check this out, that beautiful lady there on the left is actually the granddaughter of Frank Pepe and helps run the place to this very day. She was actually our server for the night....how cool is that?!
The Spinach pizza is pretty amazing too.
I got a Nikon camera....love to take a photograph.
After we'd stuffed ourselves silly, it was time to go burn some calories by walking around Wooster Street.
How cute are they?!
Kerry you are absolutely gorgeous! I can't wait to see you as a bride!
LOVE it!
That backpack was one of the first gifts they gave each other. It's secretly a picnic kit, complete with roll up blanket. Pretty awesome right??
And what better way to round out the evening, than with some impromptu park Scrabble? We'll see you this July at :
Today we are making our way up to Turners Falls, MA to speak tomorrow at the incredible Hallmark Institute of Photography. We had an absolute blast speaking there last year and we can't WAIT to go back again. But not before brunch. No, brunch is a must. It cures all ailments... especially the aches & pains of the wedding morning after. Because is it just me, or is everybody else crackin' & poppin' a LOT more than usual? What's that? Just me? Oh....awesome. :)
Well, here's a little sneak peek from yesterday that makes it all worth it!
As I type this it sort of sounds like our entire house is being knocked down right now. There is hammering. Lots of hammering. But not just your plain-jane, vanilla, run-of-the-mill hammering. No. It sounds more like JACK-hammering. They are ripping down all of the old, pitted, white turned brown with dirt aluminum siding, and are about to take a Sawsall to the side of our house to cut out two HUGE holes for our first floor windows. Cause ya know....ripping out whole sides of our house is pretty normal at this point. :)
And this is *maybe* the part that I've been MOST excited about since we first even thought about buying the house. We are tearing out the front two facing windows that are pretty much your standard size as far as windows go, and replacing them with eight foot, wall-size casement picture windows to look out on the Cove. *Le sigh.*
And I'm not gonna lie. I'm pretty flippin excited about it!
Pictures of that to come shortly. But in the mean time, here is the Before & (Sorta) After of the built in dressers we just put in the bedroom. First up, is a before of the bedroom before we did any work at all in there, and you can kind of see what the window used to look like too. The wide angle of this shot is making that area by the window look really small, but it's actually a pretty good size and that's where our bed is now.
Here are our contractors, Anthony & Joe, cutting out another big hole in our house! :) Because there was this crawl space behind the wall, we wanted to be able to use that space rather than having two huge dressers taking up a ton of room. This room also doesn't have a closet, so we knew we were going to need a lot of drawers.
Is anybody else thinking about the Pink Panther right now? Good marketing.
And here is the Sorta After. His & Hers dressers! We just sat these unfinished all wood dressers that we got for a pretty decent price into the wall. Anthony & Joe used 2x4's to level them off, and we'll be insulating behind them to keep them warm in the winter/cool in the summer.
Like I said, this is only the Sorta After, as I still have to show you what they look like trimmed, painted and with the new handles. That shot will be coming soon. As soon as Justin finishes painting! :)
Mornings when you wake up and the birds are chirping and the light is streaming through the window and all is right with the world. And then just like that and for no reason at all.....you're down. You're never going to get there....wherever there might be. You're never going to have that....whatever that might be. The house is a mess. Your hair is a mess. And let's just face it, your dog could really use a good grooming. That voice inside rears her ugly head, and if we're being honest... she is one nasty broad. Telling you what you can't do. Pointing out what you don't have. If you listened to her long enough, you'd really start to believe that your house will never be finished, your work will never be good enough, and there are all of five people, counting your MOM, reading your blog.
And you just can't help but feel...gutted.
If I'm being really honest, I listen to her way more than I should. Because like any good frenemy, she's gotten really good at pretending she has my best interests at heart. That the things she's telling me are just for my own good.
And believe me, I wish that I had some pithy, yet profound conclusion to draw here. Really, I do. Something that would tie it all together for all of us in a nice little bow, and prove once again that all's well that ends well. That the voice in our heads is gone forever. But I don't have that ending....not just yet anyway. So for right now, I just wanted to put this out there into the internet cosmos. To let it float around for a little while and see where it lands. Because I know that there are people out there (all five of you:) who might be reading this and feeling the same way.
And I just thought it might help to know....that you're definitely not alone.
And speaking of feeling gutted....just imagine how our poor wall must feel. :) The Before & After of this mess is coming soon.
We are having a great time up here in Vermont, and just so you know I fully plan on bringing a moose home for Cooper to play with! Just wanted to hop on real quick and give you a lil' sneak peek love from Michelle & Rob's NYC wedding. More coming soon!
Engagements
