peace and quiet.

breatherboston

My ease back into daily life has been, well, fairly easy and breezy which is really, really nice. It is summer vacation for me, after all. Between a bit of tutoring, some summer workshops at school, and finding a place for each of our new gifts, I am finally getting the break I needed after that June crazy. Good crazy, but crazy all the same. This was planned just so, of course. We had two options for wedding dates with our venue– one in the middle of June, and the other at the very end of August. With the August date I would have had a lot more time to plan without the end of the year school stress but the June date would give me more time to reflect and enjoy the memories of it all. And that made the choice incredibly easy.

Right before our wedding Breather contacted me to see if I’d like to try out one of their spaces for a few hours. Breather is a company that rents out gorgeous rooms around the city. You can use the rooms for just about anything your heart desires and can use them for as little or as long as you’d like. I was too busy to even think about giving it a try before the wedding, but was certainly intrigued. I also knew how many photos I would have after our trip. Photos to be sorted and edited and blogged — the perfect reason to test out a Breather space. And perfect timing too because this week has been HOT! With no AC at home it was really nice to get away to someplace cool for a few hours.

There are 5 locations in Boston and I reserved the room at 715 Boylston Street {right across from Lord and Taylor} and my sister and I made an afternoon of it. We picked up some Flour for lunch, brought our laptops along, and mostly just enjoyed the light and bright — we loved it all!

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This space in particular is HUGE. I spent some time while we were there brainstorming all the different things you could use it for. Dinner with friends. Craft night. Yoga party. A holiday shindig. I mean, your house is fine for all of these things, but sometimes change is good, you know? I could absolutely see myself reserving a space while visiting NYC {42 locations!!!}, as I often find myself needing a recharge during day trips. Will obviously also need to go back to San Francisco for this gem, and Montreal! DIVINE! Coffee shops are nice, but these rooms are nicer. And perfectly pretty, too!

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If you’re interested in trying out Breather for yourself, go ahead and use the code

“DEARFRIEND”

for one free hour at any breather location.
Fingers crossed it’s in your city! I know YOU WILL LOVE IT!

whirlwind!

married!

Wow. Amazing. Intense. Stressful. Emotional. Incredible. Joyful. Beautiful. A WHIRLWIND!

Those are all words that come immediately to mind when I think about the past 6 — now almost 7 months. At the moment I am in a relieved state of utter bliss thinking about how it all went down and I imagine I will be riding on this high for quite some time. A magical whirlwind of the best memories of our lives and I am brought to tears the harder I think about it.

We were married on a brilliant Saturday in June with all our most favorite family and friends there to witness. It was a bit rainy, beyond beautiful, and full of every kind of happiness that one wedding day could bring. We are so thankful for it all. Honestly, grateful beyond words.

Hooray! We are married!

And nothing has ever felt more right. ♥

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image by First Mate Photography Co.
and yes, yes! more to come!!

my boston wedding shower. ♥

boston wedding shower!

Oh, Saturday!  I  A M  O V E R J O Y E D ! Can I relive it all over again? If I could, I certainly would. My Boston Wedding Shower ♥ It was so much fun and so crazy filled with love. Meg hosted with the help of my mom and they gave me the most amazing day with family and friends. I am still smiling ear to ear just thinking about it!

We had the party right here at my house, and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. The night before we moved the furniture around and made some simple decorations to make it festive. Luckily, our space is wonderfully light and bright, and our living room and dining room is one big room — the perfect space for a gathering. We had around 30 people or so, which was cozy, but it worked out fine! The morning of the shower my mom and aunt did the food prep, while my sister and I went out to Dry Bar just to keep things extra fun. :) From start to finish it was such an exciting wonderful day.

And if this whole “I’m getting married” thing didn’t feel quite so real before, it sure as ever does now. :)

Here are {a LOT} of photos from the shower… My friend Lauren took my camera and was the dedicated photographer {thank you friend! I am so happy to have these memories! xo}

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We had a delicious lunch of ham and swiss/chicken salad croissants, deviled eggs, my favorite “brown bread” made my Zan’s Aunt Janey, fruit salad and deserts! A whole table of chocolate cookies, mini-cupcakes, and two “winning hearts and minds” cakes — an absolute favorite around here {we’ll have it at our wedding, too!}.

A few nights before the shower Zan and I helped my sister come up with a quiz for everyone to take. It had lots of questions about the two of us as a couple — some with obvious answers, some not so much! A fun “how well do you know us?” game that I think was well enjoyed. In addition to the game each guest was also asked to fill out a memory card. Then, in between opening gifts the memories were read aloud and I would try to guess who wrote each one. I loved it because I was reminded of so many happy times with so many people who mean so much to me. At the end my mom gave out homemade heart-shaped cookies for favors. Such a perfect hand-made day.

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Thank you for the flowers, 218!!!!! Mwah mwah mwah.

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Zan stopped by the party a few hours in and, of course, was a huge it. He arrived just before I opened a card and a gift from his mom and I don’t know what came over me, but I just couldn’t help but tear up! Made me feel all the best feelings and I just started crying. So my sister had to read the card and then she started tearing up, too! Oh that got everyone laughing and crying. That was my favorite memory of all.

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate. Thank you for the wonderful gifts and kind words and big hugs. My heart was bursting full the entire time. It still is and will be until our wedding day… and then still forever after. ♥

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{my favorite picture from the day captured by my friend Katie!}

♥

xoxoxoxox.

red sox in april.

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Sweet Caroline! The trees are finally starting to bloom in this city and my mood and energy are literally bursting through the roof. Vitamin D, you luscious luxury, you. Last night we were ever so lucky to be treated to some Red Sox tickets— a sure way to kick off spring if I ever knew one. We spent the night at Fenway with Zan’s brother Erik and his girlfriend Emily and are so thankful they brought us along for the ride. Even though it was DANG COLD! But still! Red Sox in April means spring is here and summer is so close I can almost taste it.

{A L M O S T.}

We watched that grey sky turn cotton candy pink and we sat in the bleachers and sang along with Neil Diamond and cheered with the crowd when the Sox won in the bottom of the ninth. Wahooo, Boston!

You are the only only onlyyyyyyy.