before and after 24

I play this little game in my head sometimes....

What was I doing one year ago today?

This time last year, I was sad that my boyfriend was deployed in Iraq for my birthday. My roommates did a great job making up for it, though, and we went out to my favorite little restaurant down the street and I drank pink champagne. YUM. I was turning 23, and I was thinking about how dull life would be if I had to work at my job forever.

What will I be doing one year from today?

A year from today, I will have just turned 25. A Big Birthday - no longer my dad's little baby girl. My now-fiance will have just returned from a 6 (or 7, 8, or 9) month deployment, and we will either be doing some last-minute wedding planning or some not-so last minute wedding planning (we don't have a date yet!). Both of our leases end in July, so we might even be living together.. who knows?

It's nice to think that every birthday from here on out will be marked by activities, milestones, and life together with my very best friend and soon-to-be husband.

This past weekend, the boy very graciously baked a cake for my birthday. It was the first cake he has ever made. He made the buttercream frosting himself and decorated the top with the words "best fiance bday" in pink icing, which I found adorable. and maybe kinda confusing :P

about a year ago

hint hint

Today is the best Monday I have had all year. Not only is it my BIRTHDAY (wee!!), but I also received a new job offer this morning! I'll give you a hint...




Teacher - Originally uploaded by dilunde

...more details to come!

Getting ready with the ladies

A wedding is a great excuse to spend some QT with your best girls friends, gettin' your nails did at the local hole-in-the-wall salon. Here's two of them, enjoying their sorta-questionable foot bath:

After our nails were all prettied up, a few of us headed over to the hotel to get ready with the bride. My friend Stef is great with hair and make up, so I asked her to style my hair for the night. I'm so glad I did - she did a great job and I didn't have to worry about it. Here she is, doing makeup for one of the other bridesmaids.

(PS - Stef is also an awesome personal trainer in Baltimore!! Her info is listed on Baltimore Bride.)

The morning of the wedding day was nice and relaxed. Kalyn's nieces all got their hair done, so it was fun to hang out with them at the hotel all day. She has A LOT of nieces and nephews... kids have a great way of keeping things laid back. (or sometimes doing the exact opposite...)

Pat's sister also has an adorable little one. The poor baby wasn't feeling good on Friday, but she seemed fine by the wedding on Saturday evening, luckily. How cute is this pre-wedding pedicure? Lucky little girl!

Kalyn and Pat hired Melissa Barrick as their photographer... I can't wait to see how her pictures came out. She and her assistant were so friendly and easy to get along with. It really goes to show how important it is to hire vendors that are people you like! They both made the whole experience very enjoyable.

Kalyn & Pat's engagement pics are here (Melissa's website) and here (Kalyn's blog), if you'd like to see some of Melissa's work. She also posted a sneak peak of their wedding pictures & day after shoot.

Annapolis wedding - the rehearsal

Two of my best friends were married to each other on Saturday. Kalyn and I were roommates for three years in college, and both of our guys went through a lot of their military schooling together. The four of us have so many memories together, and it was awesome to see them through such a special time in their lives. Since the boy and I were lucky enough to be in the bridal party, we spent all weekend with Kay and Pat.

Here they are! Practicing the aisle walk...

A table full of crabs !! YUM.

The beach-side ceremony rehearsal was followed by a ridiculous buffet. We ate every kind of seafood and drank ice cold beers. If you're ever in downtown Annapolis, make sure to stop at Buddy's Crabs and Ribs for an amazing feast.

Jack Links

I'm weird about meat. I don't eat a whole lot of it and sometimes it kinda grosses me out. That being saaaaaid, I'm not a vegetarian. A couple of weeks ago, when the boy and I went hiking.... I chose to bring along some trail mix (with M&Ms, duh) and his snack of choice was beef jerky. ew.


ew.....? SO I THOUGHT. As it turns out, beef jerky has like... hardly any fat. And.. um.. it sorta tastes good. I'm not sure I'll be snappin' into any slim jims* tomorrow at work, but I'll be honest - I liked it.


*are slim jims beef jerky????