Weekend Breaks

I've been off from class the last three weekends. Jordan summed up our New York trip nicely with his last post. We had such an amazing trip! It was great to get away.

Not last weekend, but the one before, we went up to Pennsylvania for Reagan's (Jordan's sister) wedding. It was truly one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been to! They had the wedding at Bedford Springs, and everything went perfectly. Reagan was stunning! I've always felt very close to Jordan's family, but spending that special weekend with them made me officially feel like part of the family.  

Last weekend my mom came to visit. On Friday, we went to the Marine Parade at the Barracks. Jordan and I had talked about wanting to go, so we thought it would be a good chance to spend some time with my mom and play tourist. It was awesome (but cold)! 

On Saturday, a group of us tailgated and went to see Eric Church and Kenny Chesney. The concert was SO much fun! 

And on Sunday, we did some yard maintenance. Our yard was COVERED in ivy, so much that I thought it resembled the Secret Garden. After ripping up the weeds, we discovered that the fountain that was put in by the owner is still functional. We're going to spend the next couple weekends working to make the yard a nice place to grill and hang out. Outdoor space is really important to both of us, so be on the lookout for updates and photos on the yard. Hopefully we'll have some good ideas to share on making the most out of the yard space you have (which, if you live in the city isn't much) on a small(ish) budget. Since we never got around to having a housewarming party, we're thinking of having a "garden party" when it's all done. I'm super excited to shop for outdoor furniture and serving dishes. Who am I? 

HAHA! 

In addition to travel and yard work, we've been really busy with wedding planning lately. In the next couple weeks, we hope to have contracts with most (maybe all?!) of our vendors. Going through this process with Jordan has been a lot of fun. We have similar tastes, so we haven't found much we've disagreed on. Everything is coming together so nicely, and I'm so thankful to have the extra time and flexibility that comes with a longer engagement. Of course, since we're paying for most of the wedding ourselves, there are a lot of financial perks that come with having time to research and save. After we lock in everything, it will be so nice to just sit back and enjoy time with my fiance. Ahh, fiance. I still get really excited about that!  

New York, New York; So Nice They Named It Twice

Earlier this month Tiff and I cashed in our miles for a swanky hotel, the Andaz, and took the Bolt Bus to NYC for the weekend. The bus takes about an hour or so longer than the train but for a third of the cost. If you've never made the trip from DC, WaPo has a great compare tool for the different bus line options.

On our last trip we stayed on the Upper West Side near Central Park so this time we thought we'd see what the Financial District had to offer. We weren't disappointed!

On Saturday, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. This was my first visit to Brooklyn. 

After checking out the filming of a new Spider Man movie and the parks along the East River, we decided to take a ferry boat back to Manhattan. While we were waiting, an awesome storm rolled in over the city. You can see the skyline disappear as the storm got closer in the pics below. 

On Sunday we went to see the 9/11 Memorial. While it's impossible not to tear up at the memorial, the nearly complete Freedom Tower makes for a powerful contrast. 

Here's the full album from our trip. Looking forward to our next adventure! 

Cajun Fish Wraps

Jordan and I have been eating a little healthier since we moved in together. Being in grad school leaves me a lot less time to work out so we try to shop for healthier meal options. Time management is a real challenge lately and we don't really have a lot of time to cook, even on weekends, so we have a couple go-to meals we love.

One of our favorites = fish wraps. They only take about twenty minutes to make and have less than 300 calories. The last time we made them, we paired them with basil and herb couscous. Both were delicious! We buy Gorton's cajun grilled filets. They come frozen and take about 20 minutes to prepare. I know frozen fish isn't the best option, but it's much better than McDonald's when you're pushed for time. They have 90 calories per fillet, are all natural and also gluten-free. They're seasoned well, so there's no need to do anything before you pop them in the oven. We have also stopped buying bread (my weakness!) and use whole wheat tortillas for wraps instead of sandwiches. They're about 100 calories each and stay fresh much longer than a loaf of bread. After the fish is done we add tomato, light Duke's mayonaise (there's just no substitution for good mayonaise), and mixed greens.

A couple weeks ago we had Mike, Victoria, Katie and Tony over for dinner to celebrate Katie and Tony's recent engagement. Our plan was to take pictures for a blog post, but we were having such a great time we got distracted and forgot. We did snap a picture of our lovely dining table before. Check it out! We have so many cool pieces of furniture we bought off Craigslist, and they all have interesting stories. The lady that sold us the table was so nice! She told us she hoped we had as many happy family dinners on the table as she had. I'll post more about our Craigslist adventures another time, and there are several, but I wanted to show off our lovely table!

That's all for today. 

-Tiffany

This Week & Wedding News

Well, it's been a hard, sad week.

I haven't been able to stop thinking about those poor people in Boston. Then, lastnight, the fertilizer plant exploded in West, Texas. So many people are hurting. I just keep praying for those affected by these tragedies and hoping that the stories of bravery will outshine the evil of the mastermind(s) behind Boston and the misfortune of the accident in Texas. I'm hesitant to get into details about either event because now is not the time for speculation. There is so much misinformation floating around I've almost given up on watching the news for updates.

These kinds of events always make me think about my dad. He's been involved in the police force in some capacity since before I was born, and he started his career as a volunteer firefighter. I've wanted to hug him all week. After an emotional week, the weekend cannot come soon enough.

I was torn whether or not anything this week because I didn't want to a) be inappropriate or b) go emo on the blog. I hope I at least refrained from A. That said, I got some really exciting news today and I thought it was post-worthy.

My wedding dress is here! 

My appointment to pick it up is April 30th. I know I have a lot of time until the wedding (471 days for those counting), but it takes MONTHS to order dresses and then MONTHS to get alterations. I wanted to have the dress in my possession so I could take it to be altered when I was ready. I'll keep it in PA (out of Jordan's reach) until it's time to make the final alterations before the wedding. I'm ecstatic!

Dress shopping was such an easy, fun experience for me. I actually found my dress online. I saw a picture and *knew* it was the one. After finding a boutique that carried the designer, I reached out to ask about the dress. They didn't have the exact style I wanted, but had one that was very similar by the same designer. I tried it on and there were only a few things that weren't perfect about the dress. And guess what? Those things were different on the dress I found online. Naturally (or I guess not so naturally), I ordered it on the spot. I can't wait to go back on the 30th and put MY dress on for the first time.

We also found our wedding invitation design this week! This was a harder find. I never realized how important wedding invitations were, but apparently they "set the tone" for the whole wedding. No pressure, right? Wedding planning has been very easy (so far). I'm so glad we decided to have a longer engagement because we're really enjoying this time of being engaged and having the flexibility to make decisions on our own time. As corny as it sounds, every decision has just felt right.

I hear all these horror stories about bridezillas and people who lose themselves in wedding planning, but I just know I'll never get to that point. We're preparing for a marriage, not a wedding, and I couldn't be more blessed to be taking this journey with Jordan. He's my best friend, my biggest cheerleader (tied with my mom, obviously) and my rock.

Enough cheesy blogging. I promise my next post will be redeeming. Maybe summer boozing suggestions?

-Tiffany

 

Sunday Braves Game

Seven and a half years living in DC, two of those only blocks from Nationals Park, and I'd never been to a Nat's game until last Sunday.

To be honest, I'm not much of a baseball fan. But after a few nice Spring days and the chance to see Tiff's high school friend, Cory Gearrin, pitch for the Braves, we planned a little Sunday Funday. 

The plan was to make breakfast and mimosas before heading to the game. Unfortunately my laziness on Saturday deprived us of some critical elements. So a bowl of cereal it is. (Side note: We ended up grocery shopping at a Target last week and discovered the best 'healthy' cereal ever. Don't worry, we won't turn into granola eating hippies.) A quick bite and we were off in search of bottomless mimosas before the 1:05 game. 

We ended up at Bullfeathers, usually a hot spot before games, but it was surprisingly easy to get a table outside on the gorgeous day. Tiff had her new summer favorite, Abita Purple Haze; I stuck to my summer standard, Shock Top. After some happy hour wings it was off to the game. 

Our seats were great on the first base line. And Tiff was happy as Atlanta shut out the Nats 9-0 to sweep the three game series. We started making our way out around the bottom of the 7th but got sidetracked at the opportunity get Ben's Chili Bowl without the hassle of getting to U Street. 

A long walk home followed by a long nap rounded off a perfect Sunday. 

Start Spreading the News...

So.. it's been a while since I've posted. That's because I promised myself I wouldn't post until Jordan had because this seems to be quickly becoming "my" blog and not "our" blog, but he's still being a slacker so here I am. Love you, Jordan.

Anyway, May 10th is my halfway mark in grad school. For those of you that have gone through a grad program, you know the pain that comes along with it. No doubt it's a great investment, but giving up your weekends to be in class from 9-5 every Saturday gets really old pretty quickly. Jordan has been my biggest cheerleader and helper through the last year (cleaning on Saturdays while I'm in school, being patient when I get frustrated/exhausted, giving me time and space to study); I honestly couldn't do it without him. Between each class we get a Saturday off, so we've been talking about taking a trip the weekend of May 10th to celebrate! The Saturdays we have off are truly precious (it sounds silly but it's true) so we're usually hesitant to plan too much during them, but this weekend was an exception. It's been a rough couple months for us because of the move, being in a marathon of session and my surgery. Basically, we deserve to get away! :)

We went up to NYC a while back for a night. Jordan had never been, so I definitely wanted to take him. He loved it, but one night in NYC is not enough. We've been trying to get back, and just so happens I had some flyer miles burning a hole in my pocket.. literally. So while sitting in class (clearly paying lots of attention) I found a GREAT hotel deal for the weekend and pulled the trigger.

Bonus: my cousins Amanda and Crystal live up in Brooklyn. Hopefully we'll get a chance to visit with them.

And HOPEFULLY Jordan will be joining the blogsphere very soon! Don't you guys think he should join the party?

-Tiffany

Start spreading the news 

I am leaving today 

I want to be a part of it 

New York, New York 

These vagabond shoes 

They are longing to stray 

Right through the very heart of it 

New York, New York 

I want to wake up in that city 

That doesn't sleep 

And find I'm king of the hill 

Top of the heap 

My little town blues 

They are melting away

I gonna make a brand new start of it 

In old New York

Easter

I had originally planned to spend this Easter with Jordan in Pennsylvania, but I found a last-minute flight to Tennessee I couldn't pass up. I'm super excited to see my family, but a little sad to miss Easter with the other half of my (other half's) family. The first time I went home with Jordan to meet his family was on Easter back in 2009, so Easter always reminds me of them.

We bought this really great coffee table off Craigslist, but it needs a little work. We were going to take care of this weekend, but it will have to wait since we're going to be in two different states. The goal is to make our coffee table look like this amazing clock we bought for the apartment. The clock is honestly one of my favorite things we have! Sadly, I don't have a high quality (read: not Instagrammed or taken on my iPhone) photo of the clock yet, but I'll post some with some before and after photos of the table.

I found instructions on HGTV's website on how to distress furniture. I'm sure we'll be referencing it quite a bit when we start the project. Hopefully it will be in the next couple weekends! Have you ever distressed furniture? Any helpful hints for us?

Have a happy Easter weekend!

-Tiffany

Houston, we have a blog!

Don't worry; it's not that kind of blog.

Jordan and I have been talking for a while now about starting a joint blog. We just moved into our first apartment together after getting engaged back in December and we're so excited about having our first home. While we were furniture shopping and going through the moving process, I kept thinking how cool it would be to share our Craigslist adventures and DIY projects on a blog, so here we are.

While we both work in politics, we'll try to keep that talk off here. Read: lots of talk about food, furniture projects and travel sprinkled with a little wedding planning here and there.

Basically, we just want a place where our families and friends can see what we're up to. Hopefully, we'll have interesting things to share fairly frequently. Hope you enjoy!

-Tiffany