happy halloween!

(personal photo from 1986... i am dressed up as a fashionista.)

hello friends! how are you?

sorry i've been absent from the blog for a few days. i have been spending time with my nieces, (happiness) and completely reorganizing our condo post-wedding (less happiness, but necessary). i've also been working on my yoga website, which i will share soon!

this weekend simon and i are having a date night, (robert redford and penne with pesto) baking another pie (we're on a bit of a pie kick in our house), and celebrating halloween with our family. i'm looking forward to it.

what are you up to this weekend? are you dressing up?

have a wonderful weekend and eat lots of candy!
xo.

page by page.

maybe it's the crisp fall weather, or my free afternoons, or the fact that i am a book addict... but lately, i have been reading a lot.

i guess it makes me feel like i'm doing something productive (even when i'm not). some nights, when simon is away for work, i bring a book to bed and read until my eyes get heavy. i love nighttime stories.

my current book is the art of racing in the rain. have any of you read it? i'd love some more book suggestions too. any suggestions for a great crime/thriller? thank you!

xo.

(photo credit: alexis mire)

keeping things simple.

(a cross between an apple and a pear, munched on at a farm this past weekend)

today i am feeling content and quiet. i'm wearing sweat pants, i have a pumpkin candle burning nearby, and i'm heading back into the kitchen to make some applesauce. :)

see you tomorrow.

xo.

lately...

• i've been enjoying seeing christmas decorations pop up all over the place. i know, i know... it's not even halloween yet... i can't help it.
  

• i've been s-l-o-w-l-y settling into a new life... wife, yoga teacher, and aspiring writer. it feels so strange to be able to determine my own schedule. i have moments of contentment, but truthfully, many more moments of anxiety. sigh. will i figure out a way to do what i love without going bonkers? :)
  

• i've been baking gingerbread cookies in the shape of umbrellas, because... why not?

• i've been bitten by the crafting bug. i have a few projects in the works and i'll be sure to show you once i've completed them.
  

• i've been able to set up play dates with some pretty amazing friends.
  

• i'm getting used to simon calling me "hwife" (as in "cool hwip"). ;)
  

happy friday! i hope you all have wonderful weekends!

xo.


(photo credit: no, i'm not, i'm very married.)

our wedding: the reception.

where do i begin? the reception was so joyful. it was filled with incredible toasts, laughter, dancing and lots of good food.


we entered the reception to the song beautiful day by u2, since they are simon's favorite band. it cracks me up that simon is holding a beer. that's my husband. :)


our center pieces were a dream come true: understated, organic and sweet. my mother-in-law filled blue mason jars and gorgeous vintage vases with fresh flowers, and tied burlap ribbons around them.


in addition, each table setting came with a vintage handkerchief, which i originally intended as a second napkin. but as it turns out, people were so moved by the toasts, some people actually used them as hankies! :)


and finally, each table also had a card on it, illustrated by the oh-so-talented clare owen, explaining that in lieu of favors we had made a donation to an animal shelter. thank you, clare!


during dinner we had a total of 6 toasts. they were all so heart-felt and personal. simon and i both cried (again), and agreed the next day that the toasts went completely beyond our expectations. wow.


and of course, our cake! i thought it was delicious. each tier had its own flavor: chocolate with raspberry filling, carrot cake with cream cheese filling, chocolate with peanut-butter filling, and vanilla cake with maine-inspired blueberry filling. yum, yum, yum.

our adorable cake toppers (or rather, cake "along-siders") were made by goose grease.


we also had a traditional norwegian cake called a kransekake. it's made of marzipan, and our guests loved it.


instead of cutting the kransekake, the custom is that you pull rings off the top, and the number of rings you get equals the number of children you're going to have. we pulled off three!


speaking of norway, my best friend surprised us with this adorable "just married" sign in norwegian! isn't it sweet? this was just one of many amazing and thoughtful things she did over the weekend.


and last but not least, we had our first dance to the song today by joshua radin. it was so fun, and we couldn't stop laughing, chatting and smooching!


and that, my friends, is it. :) whew! thanks for all of your lovely comments and support. i hope you enjoyed our wedding re-cap. it truly was such an incredible day. and i have to say, being married is pretty awesome too. :)


tomorrow i'll be back to regular scheduled programming. thanks again friends!

yours truly, mrs. simon

(all photos from & unlimited)

our wedding: the venue and ceremony.

today, i'm excited to share the photos from our ceremony and venue. but first, i have to say, thank you for all of your comments on my previous posts. i have been loving them. you are all so sweet and make me so happy! thank you.




ok, i'll go ahead and say it... the venue looked amazing. we lit hundreds of candles all over the barn, which made it feel so warm and romantic. we also scattered rose petals along the aisle, and decorated parts of the venue with bright blue and yellow tissue poms.



we decided to have a less traditional guest book, so we collected silly and vintage postcards, and invited our guests to write messages on them. the postcards are being mailed to us throughout our first year of marriage. (we've received a handful so far and love having even more to look forward to!)



our programs were designed and made by ellie of hello tenfold. aren't they gorgeous? :) there were four different designs and i assembled them with coordinating ribbon.


as pretty as they are, the part of the programs i am most proud of is that we included the following text to show our support of gay marriage:


"we feel so lucky to have found our life-partner in one another. today, as we make our commitment, we hold in our hearts hope for the day when everyone has the right to share in the joys of marriage."


since simon and i are wine lovers, our escort cards were made out of wine corks. we spent many nights making these babies, but it was so worth it! :)


our ceremony was led by a friend, and it was both hilarious and moving. here is simon waiting for me to walk down the aisle.



standing up there saying our vows was quite possibly the most fun i've had in my whole life. i was literally beaming, and couldn't stop staring into simon's beautiful green eyes.



we wrote our vows together and repeated the same set of promises. one of my favorite lines is:
"i will always believe in you, and in our marriage."



we both got a little teary, but for the most part, we just smiled the whole time.



and here we are... married!!

tomorrow will be the final set of wedding photos, from our reception! thanks, as always, for reading... it's been wonderful sharing all of these special moments with all of you. :)

hugs and kisses!

(all photos from & unlimited)

our wedding: first look and portraits.

at the risk of completely overloading you with wedding photos today, here are some of the more "formal" ones from our big day. it feels so awkward to be sharing so many pictures of myself, (yikes) but thanks for being excited for us!


when i first saw my bouquet, i cried happy tears. not only was it made with love, but it was exactly what i wanted... organic and natural looking.


you can't tell in these photos, but it was windy and raining when we had our first look. i didn't care though. :)

we didn't plan this shot at all, but just happened to stumble upon two adorable pumpkins while walking around outside. i love the way it turned out.


i was so happy...

up next, the wedding itself! :)

xo.

(all photos from & unlimited)

our wedding: getting ready part 2

happy monday, sweet peas!


today is a chilly day in boston. brr! so i am planning to stay indoors, sip coffee, bake, and work on my yoga website. how are you, this morning?


this weekend i got the rest of our wedding photos, so i thought i would share a couple more "getting ready" photos before i move onto our portraits later today.



simon's three piece suit came from express, and it fit him perfectly. he got ready with his parents and this three brothers, and i love seeing how excited he looks!



his boutonniere, and, in fact, all the flowers of the day, were designed and made by simon's talented mother. i love how vibrant and sweet the yellow is, and how it brings out the yellow in his tie.



finally, my gorgeous clutch came from shakuyaku and the wedding dress hanger was custom made by wood and wool stool. i love them both so much.


see you soon. 


(all photos by the ever-amazing & unlimited)

our wedding: getting ready.

my loves,

today i'm thrilled to be able to share the first set of our wedding photos. i smile every time i look at them. our photographer, meredith (& unlimited), did an amazing job, and i feel so lucky that she was a part of our big day.

i woke up the morning of the wedding and surprised myself with how calm i felt. all i could think about was how excited i was to see simon and get married.

and a few moments after my alarm went off, my girls, my mother and my sister, (still in their pjs,) came running into my room and piled into my king size bed! we lay there and chatted and snuggled for a while. it was the perfect way to start the day.


after showering, eating (a little) and getting my hair done, one of my dearest friends, sara, showed up to do my make-up. i absolutely loved having her there with me during that special time. she not only did a fabulous job, but her presence was also so fun and supportive.

and it was during this time that it all started to sink in. all of my favorite people in the world were going to be showing up in a matter of hours!


then i put on my dress, and my sister helped me put on two strings of pearls: one that belonged to one of my women of honor, (something borrowed) and one that i inherited from my late aunt. (something old). can you guess what was new and what was blue?


i got my clutch from etsy, and the bracelet (one of my most prized possessions) was a gift from simon last christmas.


at one point, my dad walked in the room, and we both started crying. in retrospect, it's a good thing i got it out of the way, because i actually pulled it together to walk down the aisle. :)


in the meantime, my handsome groom was putting on his finishing touches.


simon and i decided to be traditional and spend the night before our wedding apart. but at this point in the day, almost dressed and ready to go, we were both dying to see each other! it felt like it had been days and days, and i remember peeking out the window to see if i could catch a glimpse of him.

next week... our first look and our portraits.

have a wonderful weekend!
xo.

(all photos from & unlimited)

our new zealand honeymoon, part 3

today, i'd love to share the last of our honeymoon photos. ready? :)

the next stop on our new zealand adventure was a hike on the franz josef glacier (which is miraculously smack dab in the middle of a rainforest!). our guide had a beautiful kiwi accent and pronounced glacier, gla-see-er.


we wore crampons on our boots to avoid slipping. here i am taking a little rest. :)


then we were off to see the punakaiki rocks, also known as the pancake rocks. we stayed in a beautiful eco-suite constructed by organically grown timber, powered with solar panels, and full of energy saving devices.


and finally, we spent a couple of days relaxing in nelson and wellington, celebrating both our marriage and simon's birthday.


in nelson we stayed at at an exceptionally charming lodge called te puna wai. owned by a really lovely couple, richard and james provided us with a gourmet breakfast every morning, amazing views, balconies on which to sip champagne, and fresh flowers in our room.


and guess what? on our last day in new zealand, we saw this rainbow. enough said.

i can't wait to go back some day! what a heavenly two weeks. and simon, did you know kiwi birds mate for life? i love you like a kiwi bird. :)

thanks, everyone, for indulging me. it has been so much fun to share these memories with you.

our new zealand honeymoon, part 2

today, i'd love to share some more of our honeymoon photos, if you'd like to see. :)

after our dreamy time in auckland and on waiheke island, we flew to queenstown. here, we rented a car and started the long drove to milford sound, new zealand's most famous fjord.


simon and i had so much fun driving on the left side of the street. at first, it was decidedly tricky and we couldn't stop giggling, but then we caught on and it became second nature.


we drove through rain, snow, sleet and sun. but when we arrived and saw this beautiful view, it was all worth it.


that night, we picnicked on cheese, salami, bread and wine, and then stayed in this cozy riverside chalet with floor to ceiling windows overlooking a river. it was so romantic.


the next morning, after a rainy, but amazing boat trip around the fjord, we drove back to sunny queenstown. we loved walking around the adorable city, going to cafes, bars and taking pictures by beautiful lake wakatipu. in fact, this was one of our favorite spots on the whole trip and we are still daydreaming about buying a second home there. :)

tomorrow, i'll be sharing the final installment of honeymoon photos.