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wedding

Where We’ve Been: Sentimental Art

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TGIF! As I write this, I’m baking a birthday cake and gluten free brownies to get ready for a weekend of celebrations. I will share more on Monday about birthdays, Sunday dinners, and best of all, some fall decorating ideas.

To conclude anniversary week, I wanted to share a fun and easy sentimental art project.

Before Brian and I were married and had children, other than going to concerts (which I talk about here and here) we did a little bit of traveling. The best part of traveling with Brian is he likes to see everything, and get around like the locals. When we went to NYC, we traveled all over on the subway, and pretty much walked all over Manhattan. Unlike most people who gain weight on vacation from eating rich food and relaxing on the beach, we usually come home with loose jeans from walking EVERYWHERE.

 

With three little ones, and with us finally finding a house, and me FINALLY not being pregnant, we are hoping to maybe take a few small trips in the future.

For right now though, I would like to mark all the places we’ve been so far. I found these adorable free printables. Lately, I have kind of embraced all the free art printables that are available online. I find them so cute and simple, and an easy way to spruce up an empty wall.

Here are some free printables in our kitchen:

 

And this one in our Dining Room:

So, I printed out the entire USA, and used a Sharpie Pen (I love these pens, they don’t bleed or run and I literally use them for everything) to mark all the places we have been so far. I put it in a black frame to match the rest of the art work hanging in our bedroom.

 

Ta Da. For the cost of a frame (which if you know anything about me you know I already have a few black frames on hand), you too can have adorable prints in your home. Also, you can make any additions that make them personal to you (like marking all the places you have been together).

Linking up at Serenity Now. Check out some other great recipes and ideas!

Anniversary Week: Our Story

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Brian and I met almost exactly nine years ago this week. I had just started a new job as the alumni coordinator at my old high school. With my new business management in technology degree from John Carroll University (BLUE STREAKS WOOT!) and a new suit from the LOFT I started my first day BEAMING! I was excited about my first real job, with my first office, and my first work computer and email address.

A very tall, dark and handsome man walked into my office to help me set up my email and my network account. As he was setting up my computer and talking me through where my printer was (I felt like I was listening to the teacher in the old Charlie Brown movies WAH WAH WAH) all I could think was, I know this guy from somewhere, he looks so dang familiar. So he said, “ok, well, you are all set-up.”

He started to walk away, and suddenly like a bolt of lightening it came to me. I chased him down the hall, and I said, “Oh my gosh, is Joe your little brother? I graduated from here with him. How is he doing? Are you the tech director? What year did you graduate? Do you remember me? I used to go to parties at your house and took pictures at your house before dances.” I was talking a mile a minute for two reasons: a.) I thought he was cute, and I remembered he was a senior when I was a freshmen in high school so I was a little nervous by the older, cooler, and did I mention cute guy and b.) I was so happy that there seemed to be someone around my age that could show me the ropes.

 

We became really fast friends. My job entailed attending a lot of school events to talk to alumni and Brian went to a lot of school events because often they needed technology set-up. One night while we were both working late, Brian plucked up some courage and asked me out for a beer. Our first date turned went from a beer, to dinner, to going to see some live music. It was a great first date. I guess you could say we were high school sweethearts, without actually being in high school.

 

After a few years, I ventured out into a new career. Once I left the high school we spent more social time together going to concerts in the city, movies, and out to dinner. We even started attending mass together in the city at our favorite church Old St. Pat’s. The more time we spent together, the more we started to talk about getting married. I figured he would pop the question when he was ready, but really did not want to know when or where or any of that. I figured there are so few surprises in life, I wanted to be surprised for sure.

So, along came the weekend of the Old St. Pat’s World’s Largest Block Party. This is aa two day concert event where all the proceeds go to all the programs of our church (Guster was playing that year!). Brian and I had finished a hard HOT day of volunteering and were sitting on the steps of the church looking up at the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower), and just talking. This moment is important because, Brian later told me that this was the moment he decided he was going to ask me to marry him. He had bought the ring  and asked for my Mom for “my hand” months before, but he said this moment was so perfect, and he wanted to propose in the place we would be married. So, after a few minutes of talking Brian said, “let’s go, we have another long day of volunteering tomorrow.” So we left.

 

The next day, Brian picked me up and we drove into the city for our second day of volunteering. He had orchestrated how he was going to propose with our good friends, Jaclyn and Chris (my second born’s godparents and who got married the weekend after us). He asked them to somehow get me in the church.

After volunteering for what seemed like forever, Brian, Jaclyn, Chris, and my friend Nanci headed over to the church to get the historical tour that was given to people visiting the church. Jaclyn and Chris got Nanci to walk around and Brian grabbed my hand and said, “Have you ever seen the alter up close? It is really pretty and is original to the building built over 100 years ago.”

He took me up to the alter and it was just him and I. There was silence. Brian says that he was praying I would say yes. I remember praying for him to ask soon (I didn’t know it would be in 2 seconds). Then, I started to walk away, and he said, “Erin, wait.”

I turned around, and he was already down on one knee, holding a box, teary eyed and shaking a little (he was so adorably nervous in that moment). He said, “I love you so much, please will you marry me?”

I cried and said “YES!”

The rest is history.

 

I Do: Our Wedding

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When Brian and I were planning our wedding day, we tried to think of all the weddings we had been to, and the best wedding receptions were the ones that had the best food. I know it sounds ridiculous, but good food can go a long way to your guests enjoyment of the reception. Once we knew the food would be fabulous, we tried to focus on lots of sentimental and personal touches.

The Date: After the proposal, it was kind of a whirlwind of telling people and picking a date for our big day. We knew we wanted an autumn wedding. We love cool weather, the colors, and we met in the fall, so we thought it was appropriate. We finally came around to picking September 16th. It was the only date that both the church and our banquet hall had at the same time, but it was totally meant to be. You see, this is also my parents’ anniversary. My parents were married for almost 34 years before my Dad passed away so we figured it was  a nice tribute to my Dad, and almost like a lucky day since my parents had such a happy a loving marriage.

 

The Church: Old St. Pat’s is an important place to us. We spent a lot of time there when we were dating. We attended mass there, volunteered there, and met life long friends there. Brian popped the question there. It remains a very special place to us as it is still our parish and the parish where our children were baptized.

 

The Band: Brian and I LOVE music (mentioned here). We spent a lot of time at concerts (Guster is still one of our favorites), listening to music, downloading our favorite songs, and researching new bands together. One of our first trips together was to Graceland and then to Nashville where we saw Josh Turner before anyone knew who he was. A monthly tradition of ours was to see a band called Tributosaurus. They are a band that each month has one concert and picks a different artist or band to cover. We saw them become Chicago, Stevie Wonder, Pink Floyd, The Smiths, Paul McCartny just to name a few. It was/is still one of our favorite things to do. Anyway, we explained to the band how we are die hard fans, and would you please play for our reception. They agreed and played a mix of all of our favorites. Everyone enjoyed because it was good oldie type music perfect for dancing, but they also played some newer music for the young ones.

The Sweet Table: Brian and I didn’t have a traditional dessert of wedding cake at our wedding. In Brian’s family, it is tradition to offer an entire table of sweets and treats after dinner. Ours was piled high with tiny creme puffs, eclairs, small pieces of cake, chocolate covered strawberries, and other sweet treats. To keep with tradition, we had a very small two tiered cake  to cut. Our baker actually made us a replica of the cake for our first anniversary for FREE.

 



The Bouquet: My bouquet was a place that I found it easy to add personal touches. It contained lots of sentimental flowers. My Dad’s family is Dutch so even though it was fall I included ivory tulips. My Mom loves hydrangeas so I made sure I had a few of those. My grandmother had gardenia in her wedding bouquet so I included those, and my sister had roses in her bouquet so I included those as well. I also added a few of my favorites like ranunculus and stephanotis with pearl centers.

The Shoes: Another very personal touch was to honor my Dad. My Dad passed away when I was only 19. Him and I were extremely close, and one of our favorite things to do together was run (I still run today). Our favorite brand of running shoes was New Balance, so I found a pair of all white New Balance shoes and my friend and bridesmaid, Sara, bedazzled them for me with crystals and pearls. My brothers and my “Dad’s shoes” walked me down the aisle on my wedding day.

 

The Photos: We wanted to make sure we got some pictures with the Chicago skyline behind us. Brian and I feel like it is “our” city so that was important to us.

 

The Little Things: Instead of table numbers we labeled the tables with all of our favorite Chicago date spots. For favors, we are big believers sending people off with a little snack for the car ride home or something to share the next day. Our favorite fall treat is a carmel apple, so everyone got a carmel apple from Affy Tapple (pretty much an institution in Chicago). Our programs contained pictures of the stained glass windows of Old St. Pat’s.

I’m not an expert wedding planner, but I will say this. It is very similar to hosting any party. The food should be great but there should be a few personal and sentimental touches that help to make it personal and special to you and your guests.