Four Years

Tomorrow, Josh and I will be celebrating our four year anniversary. It's truly hard to believe that it's been that long!!

We will be celebrating in new york this year by getting up before the crack of dawn, traveling by plane and by truck :), and unloading many, many (many) heavy boxes. But! maybe we'll get to have a nice dinner somewhere in the city???

Summer Project--#2

Our second summer project came to us via the "Jane Riber Antique giveaway". My mom was able to part with an old dresser, and let us make it our own. We decided, instead of painting it black, to do a colored stain. This was our first time using a colored stain. Josh was a little unsure of how it was going to turn out, but we both love it! Thanks mom for a cute piece, and thanks Josh for doing all the work ;) hehe. Here are the before and after pictures.

Before...

After...

Weekend Trip to Wisconsin

Sneak Peak:

I don't have all of the pictures from our trip, however I do have this one...which is quite possibly my favorite. It was taken after our sand volleyball game. We got some good laughs from this one.

First Summer Project

Since Josh and I basically have the summer off, we have a lot of time to do little home improvement projects. (and yes, I DID HELP!!...a little) Our first project of the summer was a new patio set!! Or should I say, "new to us."

My mom & dad's neighbor, from Dwight, allowed us to take her old patio set for free. (Thanks Kate!!) It was green and a little rusty before...we sanded it (this is where I came in) and painted it (mostly Josh, that really hurts your finger!!) a bronze color. I was really happy with the way it turned out. Looks brand new! :) We topped it off, literally, with a cute umbrella, and we were all set. I'm so thankful for a handy and WILLING...with some persuading... husband ;)

As "we speak", Josh is outside stripping a hand-me-down piece of furniture from my mom. ...guess I should go help? :)

O.A.R. Concert

Well, it was quite a night, to say the least! Here's how it all went down... :)

We left around 1:00 with Megan and Andy. Had a fun ride up to Chicago, parked their neon "Chicago-style" (should have gotten a picture of that!...nice work Andy) and headed into their hotel.

From there, we headed to a "Trip-Advisor-Approved restaurant", Exchequer, where we had a great lunch. We were getting pumped for the concert and hoping the rain would stay away.

From there we took a nice long stroll toward Northerly Island. We (*excluding the guys) couldn't resist taking some pictures by the fountain and the lake.

(Picture posted above, courtesy of Megan Andrews Bowman Photography)

When we finally arrived at the concert venue, we saw the sign below. Concert Delayed Until 9 P.M. ...Lovely...

Luckily Amy & JD were JUST pulling in, so we hopped in with them and went to Plan B--seek shelter, food for Amy & JD, and something to do for 2 more hours.

So, we headed back to the "Trip-advisor-approved restaurant" :) for round two.

After taking shelter at Exchequer, we had no choice but to proclaim "poncho time" and run to the parking garage.

...ran with flip flops in hand for what seemed like 500 blocks and arrived safely to the parking garage. ...memories...

Made it to Northerly Island to discover the concert was still ON, hallelujah. We had a great time and O.A.R. was fun to see. It rained a couple more times throughout the concert, but no more "storms"--it's a good thing we all had multi-colored ponchos. Who's idea was that anyway??...oh yeah, mine ;)

Thanks to the Bowmans & the Bridges for a fun-filled, memorable evening. Great friends, Great times :)

Tonight!

We are going to see an O.A.R concert tonight with the Bowmans and Bridges at Northerly Island in Chicago. It's our first big event of the summer and we are so excited! I'll try and take some good pictures of our night! Here's hoping the storms stay away!!

...now, off to find some rain ponchos...

Trinidad & Tobago

At the end of July, Josh and I, along with Amy & JD are heading to Trinidad & Tobago. We earned 2 free round trip tickets to anywhere in the Carribean, through our HSBC credit card points. So we decided now would be a perfect time to use them!! After some research, we discovered the islands of Trinidad & Tobago. Tobago is described as a natural, relaxing place untouched by tourism (aka big 5 star resorts lined up along the beaches).

We are staying in a private 3 bedroom villa in Tobago. Here are some pictures of the villas. :) We can't wait!!