If Your Heart Is In Your Dream, No Request Is Too Extreme

News flash! Jiminy Cricket is not a liar!

Remember years ago, when he told you, "When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true." Well folks, I am here to tell you that is a true statement. 

A wish, (a lot of) hard work, and a belief in yourself will take you just about anywhere you want to go. 

Allow me to clarify, we have been presented with an opportunity to move back to Jackson, WY, and have taken it. (please excuse me while I take a dance break)

It has always been our dream to one day be able to move back to Jackson. H is the eternal optimist and believed that we could make it work sooner rather than later. I however, thought this would mean that we would have to simply settle on retiring there. Years ago, as we were pulling out of town with our U-Haul, H told me he had a 5 year plan to be back, with a job in finance. I'm pretty sure that through my tears I was also emphatically rolling my eyes. Jackson is not the largest financial hub as I am sure you can imagine so, I thought he was crazy. Well, guess what, he was right. (please read that again, I don't say it very often so, let it soak in for a moment.)

Five years later, and we, (mostly H) have shot for the moon and have landed among the stars. Or at least landed in a place where you can see the stars. We can't wait to start our next chapter back where it all started.

Despite this being a dream come true for us it has also been a bitter sweet choice to make. We are brokenhearted  to be leaving our beautiful home and the close proximity to our family and friends on the East side, but in the end, we are sure that we are making the best decision for us. 

For now, please join us as we celebrate our very exciting news. Cheers!

Funny story about the picture above: I bought a bottle of champagne which, (shockingly) sat in the fridge for a few weeks UNOPENED. The night that we went through our list of pros and cons and eventually decided to 'take the plunge', we popped the top and indulged in some bubbles. Unbeknownst to us, this shooting star was on the bottom of the cork. We took it as a sign that we were headed in the right direction. 

Follow your dreams friends. 

P.S. Maui is pretty dang excited too! Wide open spaces, no leash laws and, no more Eastern grass allergies!

Dang, You're Old

Happy birthday America.

We will be celebrating today in Charm City.

With our favorite pooch. 

And some special guests. Hint...

Happy Fourth!

Ohh Happy Day!

Today, my H turns THIRTY years old! 

Cheers to you my love, my best friend, my happiness. 

May each year be better than the last and each new decade bring you unimaginable joys. I love you, darling and am so blessed to have you in my life. 

Happy birthday!

I'd also like to give another birthday shout out to H's birthday buddy, Grant! Happy FIRST!!! 

You can see more of G over at A Page In Our Book

Spring Has Sprung!

One thing that I love about living in a different climate than I grew up in is experiencing a true Spring. In Jackson, Spring is known as "Mud Season". This is because of the long winter and large amounts of snow that melt away and making everything a little bit mushy prior. Eventually, Summer comes and everything is amazing but, it's not that pretty getting to that point. 

The blooms are definitely my favorite accessory of an East Coast Spring. 

This must be where Lilly Pulitzer pulled her inspiration from. #pinkandgreen

Do you want to know the best part about pink, flowering trees?

PINK SNOW!

I hope you're getting out and making the best of Spring, just like Jack is.

Two of my other favorite accessories of Spring, are ice cream and baseball hats. 

Charlie agrees. 

Randy the Chandy

All of the lighting fixtures that I chose for the house came from one store or another. If you said to me, "love that light, where'd you get it?" I would be able to tell you exactly where ("Pottery Barn") and how much it cost ("originally $99 & 25% off"). Although, I am happy with all of my purchases that isn't a very exciting story. 

However, one of our light fixtures was a gift and it has a bit of a story to it.

Fun Fact:

Every time we visit H's parent's house his father, my FIL, tries to get us to take something (or a lot of things) from their basement AKA The Storage Hub. Sometimes we decline, other times we rummage around and take one or two items. For instance, the last time we visited The Hub, H ended up with two arms full of records. Yes, he is slowly migrating from preppy to hippie to hipster. It is a slight problem.  At least he is ahhh, well rounded?

Back when we were building the house I had asked my MIL if she had any chandeliers down in The Storage Hub. It's a little bit like asking, "What's in your bag Mary Poppins?". One coat rack and a hand mirror later and you're set. 

She walked me downstairs and pointed to a sealed box. H was anxious to head out, so we scooped it up and drove off, new treasure in tow. It wasn't until Mr. C asked me to rush over my light fixtures for the electrician to install that I finally un-boxed the chandelier. I don't know what I was expecting but, it wasn't exactly "me" nor did it mesh with this modern, city dwelling. It was also too small for the space it was about to be placed but, there was no time (or budget) to go out and find a new one. After all, we had an occupancy permit to obtain!

So, the too small, gold chandelier was hung. No one could deny it was just too teeny for our high vaulted ceilings and large upstairs landing. But, it would do for the time being.

It's a little dingy but, with a little sprucing up it would (will) be quite beautiful. I'd love it in a small bathroom with some new candle slips. 

Now, for the big rod iron twist, about a year ago my MIL went to Paris, as she does almost annually. It was there that she sent me a picture of this chandelier that she found for sale. 

It was hard to identify the size in the picture but, the structure and details were quite becoming. So, as a gift for our new home she purchased it and had it shipped to the good ol U.S. of A. (Note: this is a slowwwww, freight-liner kind of shipping.) So, out of my mind it went.

Long after H and I had moved in, my MIL called and said the French beauty had arrived. I originally thought it would work well in our dining room and would bring a nice casual, pub feel to the built in benches.

But, in person the French chandy is large. Way too large to hang above the dining room table. Plus, I had grown obsessively attached to this light fixture that had already claimed the space as home. 

I knew just where it had to go. 

Vuala!

Here are some pictures to show you the size differences. 

From below. 

 

From the stairs that access the RTD.

Now, we all know that size doesn't really matter (LIE! Sure it does.) but, the Devil is in the details & I love the details of this randy lil chandy: 

The scalloped bobeches. (Surely you know what a bobeche is.)

 

The green rod iron with shimmery gold highlights.

The leaf and floral design that mimic the beautiful outdoors. 

So there you have it. My little lighting story. Oh, and to the future owners of this little abode of ours... I am pretty sure Randy the Chandy is coming with us on our next adventure. #sorrynotsorry

Thank you MIL and FIL, we love our little (BIG) French treasure!

Help! I've Fallen...

... and I am trying to get back up. Clearly, I have fallen off of the posting train. My apologies if any of you out there are still reading (or trying to).

What the heck happened? Well...

Frustratingly, all things house related (wires, electricity, closing, etc) took a serious halt through the December and most of January. In the past week we finally powered through all of that nonsense. (I will divulge details & pictures soon.)

While we were waiting to move things along on the housing front the holidays came and went. Actually, right before the holidays was my birthday. Disclosure: I do not make a big deal about my birthday and prefer everyone else follows suite. The people out there who insist force others to participate in their "birthday week" (or month-yikes!) make absolutely no sense to me. You are not that cool "princess". But, for that night H did just that, he made me feel pretty special. He took me out to a fancy, French restaurant here in Charm City that was beautiful and delicious! 

He also surprised the hell out of me by giving me this bad boy.

I have been dreaming of a big-girl camera for a couple of years now but, had no expectation of receiving one anytime soon. SPOILED! Thank you H! xo

This is where things started going downhill for me. I am pretty sure it is a combination of a lot of things but, here are the top three: 

• First, I.MISS.MY.FAMILY!!! & I.MISS.MY.FRIENDS!!!
• Second, I finally understand why so many people out here dislike winter. It is because east coast winters suck: Cold. Grey. Dirty. Dark. Rain. = Blechh!                                   NOT like J Hole: White. Soft. Fluffy. Activity-filled. Beauty=Amazing!
• Third, I have not been exercising. At least not more than a walk a day with Miss Maui and a day (maybe two) at the gym. We all know that exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. 

Then came Christmas. I was having a particularly difficult time getting into "the spirit" this year (see reasons above) and was hoping to have a little help in that department when we traveled town to Lynchburg. I fondly refer to H's home town as "Pleasantville" and the past few years we have spent Christmas there with H's family. It has been great, we have shared a lot of laughs, and had an all around good time. 

Little did we know, this year, Christmas was canceled in Pleasantville. (For a multitude of reasons that are not mine to divulge.)

After that (not so fun) trip we decided to spend a quiet, uneventful night at home for NYE. Which, would have been perfect had we not gotten into a tiff at 11:58. 

Lesson: Breathe. Then live, learn, & don't sweat the small stuff.

Into 2013 we dove, trying to make the start of this year better than the end of last. It has been slowly but, steadily progressing in that direction. As soon as this awful football season is over (7 hours and counting) I am hoping to start focusing on my goals and what will make me happy. In case you're wondering, this is how I feel about living in Baltimore while the dirty birds are in the Super Bowl.

My new approach at turning things around for myself is this: Perspective is instrumental. Energy is powerful. Align those two in a positive way and (sing it with me now) every little thing is gonna be alright!

Shoo Sandy

Frankenstorm update, Tuesday: 

H and I were pretty lucky yesterday. We ate, drank, danced, and played Gin Rummy. We both were awaken by the storm in the middle of the night but, we seemed to have slept through the worst of it.

As of now, it's still raining.

The winds have died down. The temperature's in the low 40's. The clouds will hopefully part by tomorrow and start drying up this soggy mess.

H took this picture this morning at the Harbor. 

From what I can tell, or have been told, some people/businesses had problems with flooding. Some did not. Most of the store fronts near the water still look like this. 

Travel restrictions are being lifted, debris being cleared, and power is slowly being restored. Although, it is not the best day in Maryland it looks like minimal damage was done, respectively.

Our thoughts and prayers are with my family and the people suffering in NJ/NY. In particular, my UB who has a house on LBI, NJ. The reports and pictures we've seen so far aren't good. But, we wont know details until they let people back on the island which, may be somewhere around 10 days. 

LBI is a long, skinny island that runs north-south along the NJ coast. Yesterday, the ocean met the bay and the water levels rose. Many homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed. We are hoping not UB's and saddened for the others. We have so many great memories there. Remember Chowderfest?

Oh Happy (Birth-) Day

Dad, may you always feel as young as you did when this photo was taken. 

Sending you love from 2k+ miles away!

xox

Chowda

A couple of weekends ago H, Maui, and I headed up to the Jersey shore. This is not the kind of dirty, slooty, diseased "Jersey Shore" you're probably thinking of. This is a beautiful place with long, white, sandy beaches and sprinkled with sweet teenie towns and lots of beachy (not bitchy) enthusiasm. 

My family and I have visited Long Beach Island my entire life. The amount of fond memories spent here with family are countless. LBI has also grown on H like a barnacle to a sunken ship. He particularly enjoys those moments spent (mostly drifting) on the surf board. Maui likes anything that involves swimming so, we had a pretty happy crew.

On LBI, after a long summer, once the crowds have died down, and when the kids have gone back to school this particular part of the shore celebrates the CLAM. 

Yes, I said "clam", not "ham", my brother does not know the difference.

In early October, LBI hosts the annual Chowderfest. Where they hoist two large white tents donned with red and white flags to signify which chowder competition is going on in which tent. If you look beyond the adorable clammy beauties you can see the "red" tent behind us. 

Here is my Aunt Julie getting ready to taste the winning white chowder. 

I do not know the boy in blue but, I do know he really, really likes chowder. He slurped down about a dozen cups in the two minutes I was standing in this spot. 

I actually think he may be lost, he was probably looking for crabs at the other "Jersey Shore" when he stumbled upon the clams at this one. (I kid, I kid)

Besides the chowda (and the beer) the best part about that weekend was seeing my family. Not only are they cute but, they are all a pretty darn good time. My brother, Christopher, even to flew out from Wyoming for the festivities. 

Chowderfest sure does bring out the best in everybody. Here's my Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Julie showing off their double fisting abilities.

I already can't wait until next year. And...

In honor of Miss Caitlin's bday (today)... Happiest wishes to you my lovely!

Girls Night In

Moving 2,000 + miles away from the majority of my closets friends a few years ago was then, and continues to be difficult for me. Finding new friends the older you get is also more difficult than one would imagine. Especially, since H and I never seem to stay in one place. 
It's hard to hit a moving target!

I would say the most difficult part about being in a new place is the lack of a local support group. Sure, I am making friends here in Charm City like my BBFF, James. And I'm not sure I could have survived here on the east coast this long without the love from H's childhood friends (and their wives) and my family that is (kinda) nearby. Especially, my cousins B and C! Love you girls! 

But, it's hard to replace those friends who have known you since you were a wee lassie. 

So... last week when my friend from home, Megs, came up with the brilliant idea to stay connected by having a girls night in via Skype with a few of our bestest girls, I jumped on it! 

This foursome that once was all in one spot is now sprinkled all over the country and missing each other dearly.

I don't always love technology. (Sometimes I'd rather spend my days in a cabin in the mountains with nothing but a good book and some sweet company, maybe that's what retirement is for). But, for now, thank goodness for the internet and video chat!

That was the best 2.5 hours of laughter I've had in a while! Love you beautiful ladies!