Balance.
Every year I come up with a word for the next year. Something to remind me of my goals. Something that will focus me. An intention.
2016 was a big year. A busy year. A stressful year.
With each passing year, I try to become more introspective. To pay attention to my heart.
My word for 2017 is balance. Work-life balance. Family balance. Self balance.
We moved in October, following a busy wedding season, engagements and a few family sessions thrown in. We reached the business goals we had set for ourselves, and personal ones. Somewhere in all of it though, I lost track of the moment, and became anxious to get each item done. Checked off my list.
I don't have a New Year's Resolution, but rather an intention in my heart to be more balanced. For my heart to be calmer, my mind to be at peace. To just be.
Do you have a word for 2017?
Wow I haven't blogged in over 2 months. That is very unusual for me. If you've been keeping up with my Instagram, then you'll realize we have been so busy!
After our last post, we closed on our first home (yay!) and began making preparations for our move. We moved the end of October, just in time for our first wedding anniversary. We didn't have internet from October 21-November 23rd. This meant I was only going to Starbucks to send client galleries and nothing else. Plus my frazzled brain really couldn't handle anything else.
Then I got sick, because I was running myself ragged between running a business (with no internet), being a full time physical therapist, and putting together our first home. And then add in holiday stress and you have the makings of a meltdown.
We had 2 fantastic engagement sessions and a surprise wedding we picked up as associates for an amazing photog who broke her arm in that time frame.
I think I can finally say, things are settling down, and I've taken a bit of time off this month to breathe. My word for 2017 is balance. Learning to say no, and yes, and take care of me.
One of the first things we did was put pumpkins on our stoop!
For whatever reason, Ryan doesn't seal their grout. So we had 3 bathrooms worth that we needed to seal on that first day. Loads of fun. It was important to me that we ate our first dinner on the floor of our house, take out Indian from the best place in town! And then we moved. All our stuff. Hiring a moving company was the best money we spent. We were tired, but no where near what we would have been had we moved everything ourselves.
We met M+S for a sunrise session at a favorite place of theirs (and ours!) to hike! It was one of the first really cold days we've had, and I loved it! I promise a full blog post of their session will be coming soon!
A+J had their session in her family's neighborhood (which is where they got engaged too!). It was the windiest (and therefore, insanely cold) day, but you can't tell it from their pictures! Right as the sun was about to dip down, it lit up the whole sky and we got the most gorgeous colors. I kept shooting until my finger wouldn't click any more. Hands down one of my favorite parts of the session! Also more to come on that shoot!
And just like that, it's almost Christmas time. We have so enjoyed decorating our house for the holidays. It's so peaceful to sit on the couch by the tree, and listen to Christmas music or watch a Christmas movie (Hello Hallmark station).
Happy Holidays! May you get to spend lots of time with family and friends. Remember to also take care of yourselves! (And stay tuned for those engagement sessions! I promise they are coming soon!)
xoxo
E
This weekend we celebrated our beautiful friend Natalie! We rented the cutest house in Annapolis! What happens during the bachelorette weekend, stays at the bachelorette weekend. BUT, I thought I'd share some of my favorites!
I can't wait until September!!!
Happy birthday to my always smiling husband, friend, business partner and psychologist!
I adore you and our adventures. Our walks. Our conversations. And the way you help me flush hairspray and bugs out of my eyes.
Today the weather is as gorgeous as you are and the way when I feel snuggled up with you.
I wish you the happiest of birthdays and all the adventures 28 can bring.
I love you, like you love the mountains.
xoxo.
E
Photo credit to Elizabeth Fogarty
Ever since our honeymoon to Italy, we have talked about going on more weekend trips to just explore. One of my favorite parts of our honeymoon was all the walking and talking and seeing we did. Bryce's birthday is tomorrow but we celebrated it over the weekend with a trip to DC! (PS all photos are from my iphone- we traveled super light this weekend)
We already had plans to see Houndmouth at The 930 Club, so I built everything around that!
We headed down to DC Saturday afternoon and checked into our hotel, The Dupont Circle Hotel (who immediately upgraded us when they found out it was Bryce's birthday!). Is my family the only ones that take pictures of the bathroom where they are staying? Just mine? Okay. Well the bathroom at our hotel was beautiful (white marble is my love language) and I couldn't not send it to my family! They had heated floors and the prettiest bath products you ever did see!
Next we walked to the Spy Museum (and there was a bridge that reminded me so much of one in Rome that ends with the Colosseum) , grabbed drinks at our hotel and then went to dinner at Ezme. A fantastic Turkish, tapas restaurant.
The next morning we took it easy with coffee and an easy walk around Dupont Circle (which we adore and if we ever move to DC we are moving there or Logan Circle).
We did brunch at the most fantastic place called, Firefly Cafe. I had buiscuits and gravy, while Bryce had the french toast. The food was divine, and the atmosphere even cooler. There is a giant tree in the middle of the room. They give you your check in a mason jar with holes punched out at the top and a flameless candle to mimic fireflies in a jar. SO CUTE. Then we headed to (walked more) the Botanical Gardens, The Hirshorn and the National Archives.
Are you tired yet? I know I am after recounting all the fun things we did! We made it to dinner (decided to take the metro this time) at a place called The Commissary. They had a fantastic happy hour deal and we got truffle fries (because duh), a quesadilla and grilled artichoke hearts with an aioli dipping sauce. Oh yes, we were quite refreshed and ready to stand for a couple hours at the concert! We had a blast at the concert. Houndmouth recently added 3 new bandmates after someone left, which included 2 saxophone players. They sound so freaking cool. By midnight we had finally made it back home. Phew. And I sit here with lots of coffee. Hope you all had an awesome weekend too!
