movin on

Richmond feels a little empty lately. Two friends have moved on for bigger and more exciting cities! And ironically, both are close friends from school. What is it about academia that helps one develop the very closest of friendships!?

My dear friend, Lizzie B has flown north to NYC. I met LB the first day of graduate school. We've worked on many projects, exhibits and programs together and have often joked that we come as a packaged deal. But in all honestly we do work well in the creative environment together, while we both get it done, we also can take time to be silly and have some fun. I'll miss LB so much, but luckily NY isn't too far away :)!

graduation

MJ, who I met in undergrad, has also left the River City for an exciting life with her husband in Atlanta (where she is lucky enough to be living near my Maggie! )While I couldn't be happier for Martha, I'm also going to miss her (and Tim) tremendously. MJ and I met the first day of freshmen year in the common area where she was unrolling her N'SYNC poster (this was 2001). I am lucky we stayed close after college and that I had MJ introduce me to this city! Despite the fact that we have very different personalities, likes and dislikes, we've always been close and able to relate to each other. We've had so much fun* the last three years that we've both lived in this city and I can't help but get a little teary about the fact that I can't bike, run, walk or drive 1.68 miles to her house anymore.

(mj, me, mtw, akf)

*Fun includes but is not limited to: a carboaddiction to Edos, wine, running the monument 10k, sticky rice new years eves, Yaz (the schnoodle) dodge ball, wine, driving stick, running, more wine, sodium overdose at various Mexican restaurants, and spending the first night with her husband to be in my apartment's living room (on separate couches, duh!) after a very successful birthday celebration.

March 6th!

This is Allie and she is amazing. It is also her birthday.

(its actually Allie on her wedding day - 2/16/2008 - and yes, she's still this gorgeous)

Allie is my oldest friend. Our parents met in lamaze class when we were just wee babies in our momma's bellies. We've technically known each other for 28 years + a few months. That is pretty neat.

(us as toddlers! '86/'87?)

I don't have a sister, so I made Allie my unofficial sister and have always asked her for advice (even though she is only 8 days older than me). She has taught me all the important things everyone needs a sister to teach them...like how to apply nail polish and make up, etc.

the one picture of Italian travels '04

A's engagement '07

But lets get back to how Allie is amazing. Not only is Allie is editor extraordinaire of the Crozet Gazette, but she runs her own design company, AMP Designs. As you may have guessed from the picture above, she's married a totally awesome man who is in Med School and has made an appearance in the Parking Lot Movie (haven't seen it yet? For shame. Go rent it now).

This marriage has resulted in the two most beautiful and adorably sweet kiddos I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Allie also puts crafters to shame---hello Weekend Away Bags,Sleeping sack-- !!! And did I mention she has an MA from NYU, has studied in Greece and Italy and can speak/read/translate in Latin, Italian, French and German? (--she is pretty much the smartest girl I know).

(MOH duty at our wedding)

Allie! Happiest of birthdays. You are the best. The best mom, the best wife, the best artist and the best friend. I am so grateful to have you in my life! To a lifetime of friendship!

M&J's wedding '09

A & A's wedding '08

love,

M

End of Summer

Goodness! Its already labor day and I have my second thesis chapter deadline on Wednesday! I have to admit, the end of summer is my favorite time of year. I love the warm days and the cool nights, and the afternoon light which is just phenomenal at this time of year. We've been busy spending time at the lake, saying adios to Jon's brother and his girlfriend as they make the big trek across the country to California, celebrating our first wedding anniversary, and trying to figure out how we'll spend out next year of marriage :). I don't have a lot of time, but I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves!

gallery tours at the VMFA

end of Summer days at the Lake

Italian dinners with girlfriends

Newly designed Martha pearl cluster earrings

homemade mojitos to celebrate....

One year!

Beach Camping

We have been so lucky to have been able to camp several times this summer. Last weekend we went beach camping with some of our closest friends, Erin and Charley, down at Frisco in the outer banks. Days were spent on the beach, and nights were spent around beach bon fires where we feasted on the most delicious dinners and watched the meteor showers

Vacation!!!

We are off tomorrow morning for a little bit of camping and hiking, and a lotta hanging with old friends, eating and exploring new places.

If you miss me too much you might want to head over to this fine lady's blog.

Leslie and I have been friends since college, and even though she's lived as far away as Texas and now Louisiana we have always been close. We share lots of similar interests, including but not limited to organic food, local shops, delicious recipes, Jcrew, New Orleans and Monticello. When I told her I was starting my little etsy shop, Leslie, the amazing graphic designer that she is, created the banner! And I love it!

Both Leslie's personal and professional blog are a delight to read. So while you are missing me this next week, check her out!

you are all so lovely!

Thank you! Thank you my sweet interweb and interperson friends for your kind words about my February blues! Each comment makes me so happy and brightens my day! I love you all!

March has begun, but I don't think I can start hoping for spring until after this weekend for three reasons

1) Ginormous test on Friday
2) Draft of proposal for thesis due Friday
3) Skiing weekend in West Virginia on Friday, and I feel like it is rather unfair to wish for daffodils, april showers, and green grass when snow is required to enjoy skiing.

But March is exciting because not only will the weather warm up, our little richmond book club starts up again AND it is my birthday month! Yikes! I am turning the ripe old age of twenty-seven and I feel rather neutral about it. I once read in a horoscope of personalities book that twenty-eight would be my big year, so I guess i've always looked forward to that age. I am happy to be leaving twenty-six behind. It was the year of highest highs (marriage/all things associated with weddings) and lowest lows (grad school/all things associated with weddings)!

I hope everyone had a beautiful March 1st!

Goodbye Summer

This weekend we participated in the festivities for a dear friends wedding. The weather was perfect, the bride was beautiful and the details incredible. It took place in the Outerbanks, so we spent some time on the beach on Sunday morning. It was the perfect wedding and the perfect way to say goodbye to summer.

Girls just want to have fun!

I have the greatest friends. Seriously. This past weekend they (some coming from and planning (MTW thank you!) from as far as Atlanta, Boston and Connecticut) threw me a bachelorette party!
Friday was wine tasting and dinner at Allie's where we had a special guest (baby Lou), yummy cookies and delicious lasagna cooked by Allie's husband. We also had a lingerie shower and the girls gifted me lots of lovely (and sometimes crazy) undergarments!






Saturday was tubing down the James river complete with Bodos and Saturday night was dinner at Su's house where she and her sweet Mother treated us to yummy proseco from trader joes (seriously, most delicious proseco ever) and chicken salad and caprese, fruit salad, lemon bars and much more!
Finally we put on some pretty princess "sweet tats" (tattoos) and hit the town for some dancing and fun!

the best thing

about the bridal shower the other weekend was all the great recipes friends and family gave me! Maybe it is just because I'm a quarter Italian but I think food is a big part of family and love. JM and I often cook together and I am looking forward to working together in the kitchen as husband and wife!

After our super fun 4th, I decided to make the recipe given to me by my MOH Allie, Spicy Parmesan Green Beans + Kale. Now I never grew up eating Kale, but this was the best! We couldn't stop eating it!
To make:
3tblspns of olive oil
1 onion sliced
1/4 cremini mushrooms (i just used buttons)
1 and 1/2 lbs green beans trimmed and sliced into 1 inch pieces
1-2 tspns salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/4 cup of white wine (Allie uses dry vermouth, I had neither so I added a little extra water- it was missing the kick that vermouth or wine would have given it but was still delicious)
1/2 tspn red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1 bunch of Kale (rinsed stemmed, roughly chopped)
2 tbls lemon juice
3 tbls finely grated Parmesan (or more if you'd like)

* Warm olive oil in large heavy saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook till translucent (4 minutes). Add the green beans ( and mushrooms if desired) salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Add the wine and continue cooking till beans are almost tender.
Add the red pepper flakes and then Kale and continue cooking till the kale has wilted (4-5 minutes)
Add the lemon juice and Parmesan and toss to coat. Serve immediately!

Thank you Allie (for the pretty bowl I served it in too!) I have so many recipes to choose from, I think next I'll chose JM's aunts spaghetti pie!

Pie

I love pie. I love it more than cake. My mom is the best pie maker in the entire world. My mother actually sells her pies every Saturday at the Charlottesville Farmers Market. Her pies have made her a local legend (well not really, but they are damn tasty and she usually sells out).

I am lucky to be marrying a man who loves pie. Which is why. Instead of cake at the wedding, we will be cutting the pie.

Now my original plan was to use my mom's recipe for homemade crust and fillings and bake pies all summer with LRB. She got wind of that and shut me down quick. Instead there will be a Momma and Daughter good old fashioned bake fest the Thursday before the wedding and that is how we will have pie at the reception :)

(these are from www.photobucket.com., they are not my Mom's pies)

fun wedding

From Southern Weddings.

I love it. My bridesmaids are wearing green, but I was considering yellow for a time.
Can totally relate to the bride being nervous about throwing a party in the middle of no where. That is our issue too.


The farm is 45 minutes from Charlottesville and 25 minutes from Warrenton. The plan is to bus people from hotels in both places to Padua for a glorious 6 -8 hours of fun, in a field, in a tent! Yay!

wedding babble

So I got my wedding dress (a while ago) off the website oncewed! It is a new JCrew dress that I got for a considerable percentage off! I was a little nervous about the juju that may come with a new never worn but purchased wedding dress, but I spoke to the girl who was selling and it turned out she had purchased the dress early on in her engagement and the venue plans had changed since. We actually ended up emailing back and forth a bunch and she shared tons of great ideas with me!

I don't want to post the picture here since JM does know this blog exists but it is super cute and as soon as I tried it on I fell in love! I even practiced a few dance moves in it to make sure it was comfy!

I also have picked dresses for my bridesmaids. I decided on using JCrew dresses as my inspiration because I think that they are relatively comfy and pretty much perfect for my big farm wedding! I told the girls to pick a clover colored jcrew dress, which means they have 7 or 8 to choose from. Here are two examples of the dresses from the cotton cady and silk chiffon collections.



i love love love the pockets!