fall fun.

The colors are really popping here in the Poconos and I think this will be the weekend for prime Fall foliage. We took the youth group to a corn maze last weekend, but we still need to get out to do some serious apple and pumpkin picking..

the shiny parts of my week.

1. fall is here.

2. cooked a roasted chicken dinner for my parents.

3. andrew carved me stamp for the shop tags!

4. taco tuesday with the youth group girls.

Have a great Fall weekend!

a surprise gift...

A few weeks ago I walked into my kitchen to find a beautiful antique oak farmhouse table had replaced my old ugly ikea dining table... Taylor & Allison were waiting in the dark in my living room for an hour, with my camera in hand, ready to capture my reaction..

I was pretty shocked to say the least..

And did I mention that Taylor made this? I had jokingly said to him months ago, "You should build me a farmhouse table!" He took me seriously, and proceeded to watch endless youtube videos on how to do it, and then made this beautiful thing! It is almost finished, but I have to decide on stain color, and how I would like the edges/corners rounded. 

Thanks Taylor, I LOVE it! 

California Part II: Laguna + La Jolla

We saw a beautiful sunset over the Pacific Ocean in Laguna Beach. The coast reminded me of Italy, in the way that the homes are built into the sides of the cliffs. My brother Evan & his friend Justin drove down from LA to meet us for dinner at "The House of Big Fish and Cold Beer", which I would definitely reccomend.

Sea lions, birds & pelicans sunbathing in La Jolla.

Saying farewell to the Pacific Ocean..

California Part I

It was actually unseasonably cold for a few days while we were in San Diego, so here is a shot of me freezing in the wind at Sunset Cliffs. Despite the few rainy days we had a wonderful trip. I am ashamed to say I have no photos of our rad little hotel, but I highly recommend staying at The Pearl if you ever visit San Diego! The staff there is wonderful and the restaurant is amazing.

We hung out with our friend Sara, and experienced some Mexican candy!

We had a rental car and so we were able to do a lot of exploring. Our favorite part of the trip was simply driving up the coast and stopping in at beach towns to take pictures or get a bite to eat. 

 As we lay on Ocean beach staring at this pier (longest on the West Coast), we realized that the small shack at the end was in fact a great little....

We couldn't seem to get enough shrimp & fish tacos.

part II tomorrow!

a rehearsal dinner.

I'm back on the East coast! 

We had a great trip and I have lots of photos to share. But first here are some shots from Taylor & Allison's rehearsal dinner which was catered here at our house. They rented a big white tent and picked beautiful wildflowers to decorate the tables. It was a special time for all of their friends & family to come together and get to know each other, and celebrate Allison & Taylor.